I recently decided to hire an artist to do some custom work for me. I put up an ad online and took bids from a couple dozen artists.I ended up going with one very professional individual for the bulk of the work, but one artist emailed me and basically said that they were just starting their career and their portfolio wasn't extensive, but they could really use the experience. Having been in the very same situation only a little while ago myself, I empathised and asked if I could see a sketch.
Long story short the interaction was although short, quite frustrating, besides increasing the quote halfway through (which I paid, in good faith) they repeatedly
Didn't perform real revisions, with only token changes that had no real impact on the piece
Would not answer questions or discuss options
Would go dark for days at a time and then come back with a piece that looked nothing like the previous and yet still not what I asked for
Constantly seemed in a hurry to finish the piece
Pointed out how difficult every single revision was
At a certain point, after a particularly rude email I paid off the piece and decided to cut them loose.
Now my real question.In light of the fact that they are new and possibly don't even know what they did wrong, do I let them know that I am utterly unsatisfied with to some extent their work, but more importantly their unprofessional interactions and non-existent customer service? Or do I just live and let lie? I know that for me personally I can just move on, but someone once told me that a hard truth early on can be a huge help. So my question is, would it be helpful if I were to let them know what they did wrong here, or would that just be picking a fight?
EDIT: This question has gotten more answers than I expected, though surprisingly only one took the perspective of the artist. I have selected this as the accepted answer on the grounds that while I acknowledge that they should not have been paid in full for unsatisfactory work, I did so in order to take the moral (and legal) high ground. Making sure that they have no meaningful cause to complain about me as a client. To those saying I should be less empathetic, while fair, misses the crux of the issue, I hired them in the first place because I empathize with them and wanted to give them the chance to test their skills and improve.
The specific aim of the question is to establish a consensus on whether or not pointing out numerous egregious errors would be helpful to them or simply cause unnecessary conflict. The amount of money for the piece was trivial, and it was a personal project and thus nothing was lost, no matter what action or inaction I were to choose, there would be no meaningful gain or loss to myself or anyone that I care about, making such considerations irrelevant.